Improvement in straw-cutters



' 3Sheets-Shee't1.

L. SCOFIELD.-

STRAW-CUTTER.

No. 178,676. Patented June13,1876.

\I :1 f I WITNESSES- jz INVENTOR;

".FETERS, FHOTO-UTNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D C.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented June 13, 1876.

JEN?

L. SCOFIELD.

STRAW-CUTTER.

Q |NVENTOR5 W; 8 Wu. (M /Mill WITNESSES;

N.PETERS, FHOTO-LITIJIDGRAPHER, WASMNGTON D C.

UrTED STATES LEVI SOOFIELD, OF GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN STRAW-CUTTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [78,676, dated J une 13, 1876; application filed September 27, 1875.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, LEVI SGOFIELD, of Grand Haven, in the county of Ottawa and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Hay and Straw Cutters; and I do hereby declare the follow, ing to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being-had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specifica tion, in which- Figure L'Sheet 1, is a front elevation. Fig. 2, Sheet 1, is a side view, partly in section. Figs. 3 and 4, Sheet 2, are transverse sections taken through the line 00 m, Fig. 2,.and lookin g, respectively, t5 the front and rear of the machine. Fig.5, Sheet 3, is a longitudinal section, taken through the line 3 y, Fig. 1. Fig. 6, Sheet 3, is a sectional view, showing the method of pivoting the cutting-knife to the frame. Fig. 7, Sheet 3, is a detached view, showing the method of connecting the upper roller with the counter-balance.

Similar letters of reference in the accompanyin g drawings denote the same parts.

My invention relates to that class of feedcutters which employ a pivoted reciprocating knife in connection with suitable feed-rollers throw of the spring-pressure piece to cor- .respond to the throw of the knife. It also consists in providing the feed-rollers with toothed wheels driven by a chain from a ratchet-wheel pivoted to the frame of the machine, such ratchet-wheel being, in its turn,

operated by a pawl-lever from the shaft of the balance-wheel. It also consists in the provision of means "for tightening the chain. It finally consists in the construction and com binat'ion of various parts, as I' will presently describe.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the upright frame of the machine, provided upon one side with the feed-trough B in the usual manneigand with a fly-wheel and shaft, O,'at one of its upper corners. The front end of the shaft is formed with a crank, which is connected by a pitman, D, with the central joint ofa vertical toggle-lever, E, whose upper arm is hung to the side of an upright, F, mounted upon the top of theframe. The lower end of the" toggle-lever is pivoted to the back of a curved knife, Gr, near the center thereof, and one end of the knife is pivoted to the side of the frame, as shown. The cutting-edge of the knife is curved upward at the rear end and downward at the point, so that when operated from the driving-shaft by the pitman and toggle-lever,- it is forced through the hay or straw with a shearing out throughout its entire length, the greatest force of the lever beingexerted at the heel or rear of the .knife, where it is most required.

H is a metal frame, in the general form of a' rectangle, secured to the front bar I and one of the uprights of the main frame. The frame H is equal in size to the front of the feed:

trough, and is secured thereto at its inner endby screws-and lugsj, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The lower side piece of this frame forms the inner guard K, next the knife, to support the hay or straw while being cut, a strip of metal, L, extending across the frame in front of the knife, forming the outer guard and haysupport. This guard also forms a spring, to press the knife inward against the guard K,

for the purpose of insuring the proper cutting action. The upper edge of the inner guard K is curved upward next the upright, to hold the hay up within the path of the knife, and

the outer guard L is correspondingly curved for the same purpose. The upward curvature of the outer guard' increases its strength and elasticity at the heel of the knife, where the greatest forceof the out is required.

The knife is hung upon a.pin, m, which passes through a vertical slot, at. in-t'he metal frame H and upright of the frame, as shown in Fig. 6, and is provided With a triangular metal -plate, o, to bear against the outer face of the frame. A nut and washer on the inner end of the pin draws the plate 0 up to its bear-. 'ings,'and' holds the pin in place. It is pre- 'yielding pressure.

vented from turning with the movements of the knife by fitting one edge of the triangular plate up against a shoulder, 12, formed on the metal frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Bythis means the knife is madeadjustable vertically, and when its edge is ground away or notched it can be lowered to coincide with the hay-supports K L-that is to say, if the width of the knife is so far decreased by grinding its edge that the latter will not reach the hay-supports in its descent, it cannot, of course, cut the hay; but by lowering the pin in its slot at, the knife is dropped down until the edge will sweep past the support and again perform its work. i

Q is the pressure-piece, placed within the end of the feed-trough, just behind the knife, and suspended from rods R R, which pass upward through lugs S S on the back of the metal frame H, and then through the front top piece of the main frame.

The pressure-piece is lifted by the knife in the following manner: The lower pivotal pin of the toggle-joint projects through the knife sufliciently to receive a roller, t, upon its inner end, which, when the knife ascends, comes in contact with a hooked rod, T, screwed into the top of the pressure'piece, and raises the latter for the feed of the hay beneath it. When the knife descends the pressure-piece is thrown down upon the bay, to hold it in place while being cut, by means of springs U U, mounted upon the guide-rods R, between the pressure- ,piece and lugs S, as shown in Fig. 3. The

hooked screw-rod is so arranged that the springs shall throw the pressure-piecedown upon the hay before the knife'begins to cut;

and it is adapted to be screwed into the pressure-piece, to regulate the movement of the latter in accordance with the vertical adjustment of the knife.

If desired, the roller t may be mounted upon the toggle-lever by a separate stud; but its arrangement I regard as a matter of choice only. i

W is the lower feed-roller, having its bearin gs in the end of the feed-trough behind the pressure-piece, and X is the large upper feed-roller,

arranged with its journals in open slotscut in the sides of the feed'trough. Y Y are bars or catches hooked over the journals of the upper rolleroutside the trough, and secured firmly to the ends of an open box, Z, placed beneath the frame. One end of this box extends between the front and rear uprights of the frame,

by which it is guided and prevented from being displaced laterally. The box forms a support for spiral springs A, which bear. against the bottom of the feed-trough and force the large feed-roller, through the medium of the hook-bars, down upon the small one, with a If desired, weights may be usedin the box instead of the spiral springs,

or both springs and weights may be employed at the same time. B and U are large and small toothed wheels secured respectively to the journals of the large and small feed-rollers outside the feed-trough, andat that end of the frame carrying the knife. An open-linked chain, D, passes around the lower wheel 0, and'thence upward over a somewhat larger toothed wheel, E, mounted upon the inside of a cross-bar, F, at the top of the frame.

One side of the chainis pressed toward the opposite side by the large wheel B, and the teeth of these three wheels enter the open links of the chain, which is operated as follows: G is a long lever extending nearly the whole length of the frame from immediately under the driving'shaft to' the toothed wheel E. It is pivoted, near the shaft, to the inner side of the rear top bar H, and carries a spring-pawl, I, at its opposite end to engage with ratchetteeth J, formed upon the inner face of the toothed wheel E. The pawl-lever is operated by a cam, K, on the driving-shaft, and a spring, K, supported by the frame under the short arm of the lever, between its fulcrum and the cam. When the shaft rotates, the cam and spring vibrate the outer end of the lever and cause the pawl to feed forward the *ratchetwheel J and toothed wheel E one or more teeth at each vibration. This imparts an intermitting motion ,to the chain, and, through the toothed wheels B O, communicates a like motion to the feed-rollers, the various parts of the feeding devicesbeing so adjusted that the rollers shall feed forward the material to be cut when the knife ascends,

and hold it still when the knife descends. The feed of the material between therollers is regulated by adjusting the throw of the springpawl to engage a greater or lessv number of secured to the frame, as shown in Fig. 5, andthe lower end of the arm M, which suspends the spring-pawl from the cam-lever, is jointed by an arm, N, to the shaft or stud of the ratchet-wheel for the purpose of insuring proper movementof the pawl.

When the machine is running at good working speed the momentum of the rat'chet'wheel 1 is apt to carry more than the required number of teeth past the spring-pawl, and so make the feed irregular. To prevent this I place a stop, 0 upon the frame above the pawl,

against which the latter strikes in its upward 1 thrusts, and is thereby directed between the,

ratchet-teeth with absolute certainty.

The driving-chain of the feed-rollers istight 1 ened by moving the toothedwheel B of the upper roller against one side of the chain.

For this purpose the journal at that endot' the feed-roller is given a slight lateral play by widening the bearing-slot in the side of the feed-trough. The hooked bar Y is also hung to :the end of the box Z by a single bolt, and

its lower end is slotted laterally for the passage of a set-screw, 0 into the box. By

178,676 if g 3 loosening this screw the hooked bar is turned on its pivot to move the end of the upper feedroller and press the wheel B against the chain, where it is held by again tightening the set-screw.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- I v 1. The combination of the crank-shaft, the pitman, and the toggle-lever with the pivoted knife, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

2. The arrangement of the toggle-lever upon the frame-support F, connectingwith the pitman of the crank-shaft, and with the back of the pivoted knife at the center thereof, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

3. The pivoted adjustable knife, combined with the hay or straw support, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

4. The knife-pivot, constructed with a triangular plate, 0, at such a point of its length that the end of the pivot shall receive the knife in front of the plate, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the triangular plate 0 and shoulder 11 with the vertically-adjustable pivot of the knife, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

6. The elastic knife-guard L, combined with 'the frame of the machine and the inner guard K, and constructed with the strengthening and guiding curvature in front of the heel of the knife, corresponding to the curvature of the inner guard in rear of the knife-heehsubstantially as described, for the purposes specified.

-7. The metal frame H, constructed with the shoulder p, to receive the edge of the triangular plate on the knife-pivot, and with its lower side piece forming the curved inner guard K at the heel of the knife, substantially as described.

10. The counterbalancing-box Z, in combination with the laterally-adjustable upper feed-roller, and guided and held against lateral movement by two end uprights of the main frame, substantially as 'described, for the purposes specified.

11. The spring-pawl I, vibrating pawl-lever G, and the cam-driving shaft, in combination with the ratchet and toothed wheels J E, mounted upon the frame of the machine, the toothed wheels B O on the end of the feedrollers, and the single driving-chain D, the various parts being arranged as described with relation to each other, for the purposes specified.

12. The pawl-arm M, connected to the shaft or stud of the Wheel J E by. the arm N, and operated from the driving-shaft by the pivoted bar G, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

13. The arrangement of the stop 0 with respect to the wheel J E and the spring-pawl l, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

14. The adjustable hook-bar Y, having a suitable pivoted support, combined with the loose journal of the upper feed-roller, to ad-- just the toothed Wheel B against the feedchain, substantially as described, for the purposes specified.

LEVI SOOFIELD.

Witnesses:

E. S. KARNER, F. MGKENNY. 

